10.83 lbs leads Day 1 of the Big Bass Splash on Sam Rayburn - By Patty Lenderman / Lakecaster  

Come on in, the water’s fine! The McDonald’s 28^th Annual Big Bass Splash officially kicked off at the Umphrey Family Pavilion on Sam Rayburn April 20, 2012 with the lake in fantastic shape and big fish biting.  Two double digit bass were brought in with Beaumont angler John Martin in the lead with 10.83 pounds.

$580,000 is guaranteed to be paid out over the course of this three day event.  The top twelve anglers with the heaviest bass each hour are awarded hourly checks from $1,000 to $225.  Harold Black of Silsbee, Texas christened the scales as the first angler to weigh.  He had a 3.42 lb bass that won the last check of the first hour. 

Charlie Westmoreland of Lake Charles, Louisiana won the first $1,000 check of the day having the heaviest bass during the 6-7:00 weigh in at 6.36 lbs.  Then things really started rocking as huge fish were brought to the stage.

Barry Merrill thought he could have a world record bass at the end of his line for the first 30 seconds or so of trying to wrangle the fish stripping drag off his reel.  It didn’t take too long to figure out that it wasn’t a bass at all.  After an extensive fight he finally managed to land the 52.92 lb catfish and bring it in to be weighed.  The scales at the Big Bass Splash were not big enough to register a catch of that size, so Texas Parks & Wildlife brought their certified scales to weigh the fish.  While it did not qualify to win anything in this Big Bass tournament, it drew a lot of attention from everyone present to see the monster cat!

Gilbert Miller of Killeen, Texas took the overall tournament lead during the 8:00-9:00 hour with the first double digit bass seen.  His fish weighed 10.24 lbs, weighed in during the T-Shirt hour doubling his $1,000 winnings to $2,000.  “I have fished three McDonald’s tournaments per year every year since 2001.”   Those would include the annual events on Sam Rayburn, Toledo Bend and Lake Fork.  “I missed last year, though, due to being deployed.”  He is a member of our United States Army.  Gilbert caught this fish around 7:15 on a lizard.

His overall tournament lead was knocked down a notch the next hour as John Martin of Beaumont, Texas heaved his 10.83 lb catch to the scales winning the 9-10:00 hour.  “It was a slow bite this morning at first.  I was catching plenty of small ones, then all of a sudden I caught this one!”  He was throwing a crank bait in 6’-15’ of water when he found this giant bass.  “I tried to make it during the T-Shirt hour, but the trim on my motor went out and it took me a little too long to get here.”

Each day there is $15,000 up for grabs - $5,000 each for the first 3.00, 4.00 and 5.00 pound bass weighed in.  The only exact weight bass brought in on day 1 was during the 11-12:00.  Shaun Fillyaw of Jasper, Texas could not hardly believe it when the scales locked in on his fish at 4.00 lbs!  “That’s a $5,000 winner!” exclaimed Bob Sealy.  The other two unclaimed $5,000 checks for this day will be won by drawing Sunday afternoon 

There is also a Little Anglers division where kids can register and bring in crappie, bream, catfish or bass.  There were a lot of kids proudly crossing the stage with every catch!  Prizes will be awarded Saturday to the Little Anglers Division.